The Simple Elegance of Raymond Carver

Minimalist author Raymond Carver is known for his simple but powerful short stories of ordinary people. This gritty minimalism both reflects and contradicts the tough and chaotic life of the man himself. Listen to learn more about the life and contradictions of this American author heavily influenced by the work of Anton Chekhov.

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Language Challenge

These levels of listening complexity can help teachers choose stories for their students. The levels do not relate to the content of the story, but to the complexity of the vocabulary, sentence structure and language in the audio story.

Low

These stories are easier to understand and are a good starting point for elementary students or English learners.

Medium

These stories have an average language challenge for middle and high school students, and can be scaffolded for English learners.

High

These stories have challenging vocabulary and language and students may need to have some background knowledge to understand the story.